CG's Hetalia - Zombie AU
by Rocky and CG
Summary: It's the zombie apocalypse and Amelia (fem!USA) is looking for her sister.
1. Parts 1-3

**Hetalia Zombie Apocalypse AU Drabble- Fem!USA**

It's been almost two weeks since the zombie outbreak affected the world. Amelia wandered through the apocalyptic wasteland searching for survivors but she was having a difficult time. All she had was her large wagon of supplies and ammo she pulled behind her. She set her baseball bat and oversized guns on the ground and stretched.

"Phew! All this walking and punching zombies in the face wears a girl out. I guess it's time for a snack before dinner."

Amelia sat on a nearby rock. She went into her backpack and pulled out a Twinkie.

"And they laughed at me when I bought my Twinkies in bulk. Who's laughing now?"

She giggled and took a bite. She glanced to her left and she could make out a small town in the distance.

"That last town was a bust but maybe I can finally find someone there or replenish my supplies like in video games."

After her snack, Amelia made her way to the town. She placed her wagon in a bush near the entrance.

"It should be safe here. I think I got enough ammo for this town."

She carefully entered the town and hid behind abandoned cars and buildings. She sighed when she noticed a stray zombie in front of her.

"Great… Another middle-of-nowhere zombie town," she muttered under her breath.

Since it hadn't noticed her presence yet, she snuck up behind it and then beat it with her bat until it stopped moving. Then she beat it again just to make sure.

"Ugh! I just washed off this bat too."

Where there was one zombie, there were usually several so she slipped behind a nearby cardboard box just in case the other zombies heard the noise. She placed her bat into its holder on her back and took out her handgun. She looked over the box and saw a small group of zombies hurrying away from her and toward the middle of town.

"That's weird. They usually move towards noise… unless they spotted another survivor!"

Amelia got up and quickly followed them.

"This is going to be awesome! A survivor! The survivor is probably surrounded and then I'm going to bust into the scene and blow the zombies' heads off. The person will say, "Oh thank you, Miss Hero!" And I'll say, "It's no problem, that's what heroes do!" And then…"

Amelia quieted as she heard the zombies clearly now. She peeked around the corner and saw a group of twenty or so zombies were swarming a donut shop. She grinned and cracked her knuckles as she turned the corner.

"Awww yeah! This is going to be fun!"

Twenty minutes later, zombie body parts were scattered everywhere while the donut shop was in flames. Amelia exited the building.

"That was easy. Too bad I didn't find anyone…"

As soon as she said that, she heard a cry from above. Amelia looked up saw a silhouette of a person on the roof.

"OH THERE YOU ARE! YOU WERE HIDING ON THE ROOF! THAT'S A GOOD PLACE TO GET AWAY FROM ZOMBIES! JUMP DOWN AND I'LL CATCH YOU!"

"CATCH ME? YOU ARE CRAZY!"

"OF COURSE NOT, IT'S EASY FOR HEROES LIKE ME! JUST DO IT!"

The silhouette hesitated for a moment and then jumped. Amelia easily caught the blond man.

"See, sir. I told you I could catch you!"

"That's too formal. Please call me Francis."

"OK! You can call me Amelia."

Francis looked around at all the carnage. "Did you do all this?"

"Yep!"

"You're a scary lady!"

"Just being a hero!"

"I'm glad that I wasn't the only one left."

"I was hoping to find another survivor too! This is great! Now my plans can go into action."

"Looking to repopulate the planet?" Francis asked seductively.

"Nah." Amelia shook her head. "Nothing dumb like that. I want to get a band of heroes together to go around saving people and punching zombies in the head!"

"Oh."

Amelia winked. "Follow me! I have Twinkies!"

**Chapter 2**

Francis fanned himself as he sat in Amelia's car-sized wagon as she pulled it. The heat became too unbearable for him so he made himself a seat in the wagon safely away from her insane amount of ammo. The wagon was uncomfortable but he admired the view of Amelia's cute derriére… cute skill of pulling a heavy wagon.

"How can you stand working in this heat? We should find some shade."

Amelia looked over her shoulder. "It is kinda hot, isn't it? Hey! Maybe we should go swimming in that lake up ahead! I have a bikini that I haven't used yet!"

Francis smiled as he imagined Amelia in a bikini. "Good idea."

They made their way to the lake and Francis hopped out the cart with a bag of his clothes. Amelia changed behind the wagon while Francis walked behind a nearby tree. He looked through his bag of clothes for a pair of boxers he could use. He glanced over to the wagon. He was tempted get a bit closer to sneak a peek but he was far too frightened by what would happen if he was caught.

"It will take quite some time. She is a master at playing hard-to-get," Francis muttered under his breath.

"Did you say something?" Amelia came out behind the wagon in an American flag bikini. "I couldn't hear you!"

"N… No," Francis could feel a nosebleed coming on.

"Oh, OK!" Amelia rushed towards the lake. "Last one in is a rotten egg! HAHAHA!"

"Hey!"

Amelia jumped in. "Brrr… Oh, it feels so nice!" She laughed as she splashed around the water.

"Amelia, stop!" Francis pleaded as he ran into the lake after her. "The splashing might alert monsters that we're here!"

"I'll just have to kill them then."

Francis shivered. He wondered why his only choice for a girlfriend had to be a beautiful but prudish lunatic.

"Enjoy this while you can because we can't swim too long," Amelia noted.

"Why? We have nowhere to go."

"Heroes have to look for people to save and zombies to destroy!"

"Um… Amelia? Have you ever wondered if we are the last two people on Earth?"

Amelia turned towards him. "Huh?"

"What if we never find anyone else? It'll be just you and me. What will we do then?"

"Oh, I never had to think about it."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because we're definitely not the last two people on Earth! So stop thinking so negatively!"

"But how do you know?"

"My sister is wandering around somewhere so that means there is at least one other person alive."

"You… have a sister?!" Francis sputtered.

"Yeah! We were supposed to leave together but I couldn't find Maddie anywhere. I don't know why she left by herself. I'm sure I'll run into her eventually. "

"But aren't you worried something happened to her?"

Amelia laughed. "Nah, she's related to me. Maddie's fine." She winked and went back to splashing.

Francis shivered again. _So crazy must run in their family._

_**Chapter 3**_

Francis awoke to the sound of a faint noise in the distance. It didn't sound threatening so he just yawned and looked over at Amelia. About five feet away from him, she was tangled up in her sleeping bag sleeping. He would sleep a bit closer to her but he learned his lesson ever since he got bold one night and did put his sleeping bag right next to hers. She immediately rolled on top him, jabbed her elbow in his face, and kept him up all night by constantly tossing and turning. On the plus side, Francis rationalized that it was a major step forward in their relationship.

He sat up when he realized the noise he heard before was getting closer.

"Amelia! Get up!"

"More zombies?" Amelia asked sleepily.

"No, animals! It sounds like a herd of cattle or something coming this way! Meat!"

Amelia immediately sprang up from her sleeping bag with a wild grin on her face. "Oh, I hear them! Yeah!" She hastily shoved the stuff back into her wagon.

"Calm down!" Francis grabbed her by the shoulders. "You'll scare them away! We have to go after them quietly! And please don't go overboard with the hunting. We don't want our food vaporized by your bullets."

"You worry too much, you know that?"

"Fine, let's go because I'm really getting tired of the Spam you brought."

They didn't have to travel very far before finding the cause of the noise. It was from a team of oxen pulling a semi-truck.

"W… Well," Francis stammered, "I wasn't expecting this."

"It's like a weird version of _Oregon Trail_!" Amelia laughed uproariously. "I would take a picture if my cellphone didn't die."

"At least this means there are more survivors."

Amelia ran off ahead pulling the wagon along behind her.

Francis quickly mumbled under his breath as he followed behind, "Hopefully in that truck is a beautiful survivor who actually finds me desirable."

The truck stopped as they got closer and a black-haired woman came out and walked towards them.

"I knew I saw campfire smoke over here!" She looked over at Amelia and her wagon. "Aren't you a strong one, girl? I like that! You'll be useful at my place. I'm glad I finally found some extra help! I really needed more workers."

"Wait, what? Slow down!" Francis pleaded, "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry! I'm just a bit excited right now. My name is Miss Chun-Yan but you can also call me Miss Nene or just plain old "Boss". I don't mind."

"What's this about working for you? I don't think…"

"Shhhh…" Chun-Yan interrupted. "We'll talk more over breakfast. I'll explain everything. By the way, do any of you know how to cook?"

"I do! I am a professional chef," Francis boasted.

Chun-Yan nodded. "That's great! You'll start your new job right now. I have a variety of delicious food in my truck. You can make us anything you want for breakfast. Surprise me!" She giggled and gave him a push towards the truck.

Francis groaned. _Great, this woman is pushy and annoying. Just my luck._


	2. Parts 4-6

Characters so far: Amelia(fem!USA), Francis(France), Chun-Yan(fem!China)

Will Francis get anywhere with Chun-Yan? Probably not.

**Chapter 4**

"That smells delicious!" Chun-Yan licked her lips while Amelia nodded in agreement.

"Of course it does," Francis beamed as he cooked eggs and bacon on their campfire, "While you're waiting, how about you fill us in about what you are talking on about earlier?"

"Oh that! Well, I am a merchant and I own farms! I have a large variety of things survivors might need."

Amelia tilted her head. "Then why are you traveling by yourself? Farm animals can't take care of themselves while you're gone. "

"I have workers! The zombies had no chance against us! We pounded them easily!" Chun-Yan chuckled for a moment and then sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm very shorthanded and couldn't spare anyone to come with me on this short trip. I'm traveling around looking for any survivors to work for me. I have also been going through nearby abandoned places and gathering anything of use. Luckily I ran into you two because I was about to turn back and I only been traveling for three days. Doing this all by myself is harder than it looks."

"But why should we work for you?"

"Why are you even asking that, girl? Things like food, shelter, and supplies are necessary to survive in a zombie apocalypse! Since there is no currency anymore, working for me is the only way to get them from me. The one with the food makes the rules. That's fair, don't you think?"

"I hate to admit it but you have a good point," Francis agreed, "We can't just wander around forever."

"That's right but don't worry, I can find a job for anyone!" Chun-Yan pointed to Francis. "You're an easy one. You'll be one of our cooks and you can also handpick your own ingredients!"

"I can also help with the "repopulation duties" if you know what I mean," Francis said in a seductive tone.

"Not interested," Chun-Yan replied flatly. She then turned towards Amelia. "Now you're good at heavy lifting. There will be plenty of things you can do at my place."

"Sorry but I'll have to decline you're offer," Amelia stated without a second thought.

Chun-Yan was dumbfounded. "What? But why?"

"It's because I'm a hero! I have to do hero things like save people and beat zombies, I can't spend time on a farm when I have things to do. Thanks for the job offer though!"

"Amelia, did you really think this through?" Francis inquired. "Do you really think you can travel around alone forever?"

"Don't be silly! I won't be alone," Amelia insisted.

"Oh, Amelia. That's sweet but I don't think I can…"

Amelia continued, "I told you before that I'll be with Maddie! So you don't have to worry about me."

"Oh." Francis knew he should have known better by now.

"Wait, you can be a hero AND work for me," Chun-Yan suggested.

"How?" Amelia asked.

"Well, you can work for me while out on your adventures! I'll give you all the "hero" supplies you need! When you are out traveling and saving people, you can direct them to my place for work… safety! Also, I can give you a "hero" truck with "hero" oxen like mine so you can "save" everyone who lives with me by loading useful supplies you find along the way and bringing them back to my place."

"Well, I guess I can do that since it won't interfere with my hero duties."

Francis turned towards Chun-Yan. "You're good!"

"I know," Chun-Yan replied smugly. "Now hurry up with breakfast, I'm starving!"

**Chapter 5**

About a day later, the trio ran into an abandoned distribution center for a huge chain of superstores. Since it was the apocalypse, they "heroically" broke in and spent the rest of the day going through boxes to load on to their truck.

"Just focus on necessary survival items for now," Chun-Yan ordered, "And don't forget the batteries!"

Francis pushed his utility dolly down the trailer ramp and entered. "Are you going to help or just stand there and watch us do everything?"

Chun-Yan scoffed. "Oh quit whining! I'm not just sitting on my ass. The oxen have to eat, you know! I was also doing some other things."

"What other things?"

"Never mind… Just keep filling up the truck. We'll come back for the rest later."

"I'm not coming back here for the second trip."

"You don't have to come back, you know. Once we get to my place, you can stay there and crush grapes from my vineyard all day. I'm planning on bringing "Miss Hero" with me. I'm sure she'll love to help me "save" everyone by coming back here to load more supplies. As long as it's "hero" work, she'll do it."

Francis rolled his eyes as he loaded more boxes onto his dolly. "I feel so bad for her," he muttered as he rolled his dolly back to the truck.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

As he left, Amelia came from the back of the store with more boxes. "I found tons of tampons and pads. We're definitely going to need these," Amelia said as she dropped the boxes on the ground.

"Yes… Very good!" Chun-Yan smiled. "Oh Amelia, I have a surprise for you!"

Amelia's eyes widened. "Oooooo!"

"I found you a small trailer that you can use to store your items in. I also upgraded your wagon!"

"Upgraded?"

"Yes! I waterproofed it, used sleeping bags for padding, and then modified a tent over it. Now you don't have to sleep on the ground and you have shelter when it rains. I don't want my most valuable employee getting sick. It'll make doing your "hero" stuff a whole lot easier."

Amelia shrieked with delight as she ran over and hugged her boss. "OH THIS IS SO AWESOME! THANK YOU! WOW!"

"Yes, yes… I know I am the best boss ever! I'm so great that I'll give you two of my oxen to pull it. I believe I'll still have enough of them to pull my truck."

"Oh that's OK, I can pull it myself."

"WHAT?!"

"Ladies," Francis shouted with a worried look on his face as he ran back inside, "Do you smell that? I think something burning!"

"Oh no!" Chun-Yan shrieked, "Hurry! We have to put out the fire! We can't lose this place!"

Amelia grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher off the wall and the three of them ran to the back of the building.

"It's coming from the employee breakroom!" Francis shouted.

"Who went in there?" Chun-Yan asked.

"Not me," Amelia replied.

They burst into the room and saw a man using another fire extinguisher on a metal firepit.

"Sorry," the man replied apologetically, "I was told you were coming so I wanted to make dinner for you all. But as you can see, it accidentally fell into the fire. Oh well… At least the flames are out now. My name's Arthur, by the way. Pleasure to meet you all!"

**Chapter 6**

Once everything settled down, everyone went outside. Francis started cooking dinner while the others sat around nearby.

Chun-Yan turned to Arthur, "How long have you been here?"

"I found this place just few days ago," he replied, "My friends told me to leave the last place I was at when it wasn't going to stay safe much longer."

"Where are your friends?" Amelia asked.

Arthur chuckled. "My friends are right here."

"I don't see anyone."

"You can't see them? Well, maybe because they're magical. They go around and scout areas for me!"

Amelia and Francis just stared silently at him.

Chun-Yan rubbed her temple and stood up. "I guess if the voices in your head warn you of danger then I suppose I can give you a security job. Come on, Amelia! I'll show you your new wagon as dinner's cooking."

"Okie dokey!" Amelia sprang up and followed behind her.

Arthur waited until they went around the building and were out of sight before he turned towards Francis. "Job? What did she mean by that "security job" comment of hers?"

"It means you'll be working on her farm for the rest of your life unless you want fend for yourself," Francis replied, "In other words, _Welcome to Hell_."

"I see. There isn't a better choice at the moment, I take it."

"The way things are right now, I wouldn't go off on my own without Amelia. She's a bit crazy and completely oblivious but she's quite useful around zombie hordes."

"She's crazy? She didn't seem crazy to me."

"That's because you haven't seen her in action yet. She saved me… and yet I almost died."

Arthur got up. "I think I should go see if they need me for anything."

"Probably not," Francis said with a hint of disappointment.

Arthur ignored him and walked around the building to where the trailers were parked. Chun-Yan was nowhere in sight but he noticed Amelia hanging out in her new tent-wagon.

"Hello!" Arthur stood outside the tent. "So do you like your new tent?"

"Oh yes I do! It's so comfy!"

"That's good," Arthur had no idea what Francis was talking about. Amelia didn't seem crazy to him so far. He continued, "I heard you were the zombie exterminator of our group."

Amelia zipped the tent and poked her head out. "Yep, I'm the hero! I hope to get some hero sidekicks together and together we'll do some hero-type stuff. Miss Chun-Yan said she'd help me!"

"That's wonderful! So how did you all meet?"

"I was supposed to travel with my sister Maddie but I couldn't find her."

"Oh no, how awful!"

Amelia shook her head. "Nah, she's fine. She has a hockey stick."

"What?"

"It's a stick used to play hockey."

"I know tha…"

"She uses it to bash zombies' heads in. It's signed by a famous hockey player but I don't know which one because I don't care about hockey. I like baseball better. I brought a baseball bat with me so I don't waste bullets. If there are only a few zombies, I use my bat out and whack them repeatedly over the head until they stop moving. It works pretty well."

"Oh… I see."

"So anyway, I decided to look for her while I went around fighting zombies. I ran into Francis when I burnt down a zombie donut shop. Burnt zombie flesh smells horrible. Yuck!"

"Uh… Interesting! Ha… Well… I have to go… that way now. I will see you later."

"OK!" Amelia waved at him while he hurried off.

Arthur made his way back to Francis and sat down. "So… Is dinner ready yet?"


	3. Parts 7-9

Characters so far: Amelia(fem!USA), Francis(France), Chun-Yan(fem!China), Arthur(U.K.)

**Chapter 7**

Arthur sat in the passenger seat of truck next to Chun-Yan while she bragged how she was able to figure out how to steer the oxen. He sleepily looked out the side mirror and observed Amelia happily pulling her new trailer. He didn't see Francis so he assumed Francis was sleeping in her tent-wagon that was attached behind it.

"I can't believe she's actually pulling that," he commented.

"Maybe Twinkies have some mystical powers," Chun-Yan joked. "By the way, have you gotten an update from the voices in your head about anything yet?"

"For the last time, they are not voices in my head! My friends are magical creatures. Some are here in the truck with us right now and some are right outside moving besides us. But to answer your question, no they said they haven't found anything of interest at the moment."

"Then our trip should be a smooth one." Chun-Yan unfolded her road map. "I'm trying to pinpoint exactly where we are on my map but getting to my place should only take another day or two. This is so annoying! I miss GPS."

"Yes, everything's a bit inconvenient now without the internet."

Chun-Yan stretched. "I can't wait until I get home. I hope my crew handled the place without me for this past week. I'll stay around a bit before heading out again to so you new guys can become familiar with the place. I'll figure out chores and work schedules. I won't be in any rush since Amelia has to go out and find her… Mattie?"

"I think it was Maddie… her sister with the hockey stick."

"Right. So she'll be gone for a while looking for her. I'll write her a "hero" reminder list of the things she needs to do for me. I hope she finds more untouched warehouses. "

"So does your place have everything?"

"For surviving… yes. Food, shelter, supplies…"

"Pardon me a moment," Arthur interrupted as he turned his head towards the window. "What did you say? Oh really!" He turned back to Chun-Yan. "Can you please hand me your map?"

"Uh… sure." Chun-Yan stared at him incredulouslyas she handed him the map.

"My friend tells me a group of survivors were spotted," he explained as he opened the map. "Unless you want to just go home, we can…"

"Screw home! I came out here to look for more workers! Tell me where they are! NOW!"

Arthur was taken aback. "Not… Not too far from here. If we take a right turn at the next road, we should be able to catch up with them eventually."

Chun-Yan stood up and stuck her head out the window and called to Amelia, "AMELIA! We're taking a detour! The voices said we'll run into a group of survivors if we take a right at the next road!"

"They're not voices in my head!" Arthur protested.

Amelia suddenly got a determined look on her face as she started to sprint.

"AMELIA, SLOW DOWN!" Chun-Yan yelled at her.

"HEROES DON'T SLOW DOWN!" Amelia called back as she passed their truck.

"THEY ARE NOT IN DANGER, YOU CRAZY GIRL!" Chun-Yan turned to Arthur and asked, "Are they?"

In the now speeding tent-wagon, Francis was startled awake. He unzipped a part of the tent's door and cried out in a panicked shriek. "AMELIA! WHAT'S GOING ON? YOU'RE GOING TO FAST! AMELIAAAAAAAAAA!"

**Chapter 8**

Amelia slowed to a stop when she heard Chun-Yan honk the horn several times at her. "This must be the place. Come on, Francis! It's HERO time!"

Francis stumbled out of the tent-wagon, visibly shaken. "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"I had to hurry! We got a group of people to save!"

"W… What?"

Amelia pointed to the woods just beyond the road. "Arthur's invisible things told him there were survivors here."

"For his sake he better be right or I'm going to kick his ass!"

Amelia opened the back of her trailer. "I think I'll only need my bat for this."

"But what if he's wrong?"

Amelia shrugged. "I dealt with worse." She then dashed off towards the woods.

"Hey! W…Wait for everyone else! They're coming over here right now!"

"Don't worry, I got this!" Amelia called back and laughed.

"Do you always steal your lines from movies?"

"Where is that crazy girl going?" Chun-Yan asked Francis as she watched Amelia disappear into the woods.

"She said that she got this," Francis replied with a sigh.

"My friends are nervous about something," Arthur admitted, "But I'm sure she can handle it."

"Well…" Chun-Yan took an emergency air horn out of her purse and set it off while the others quickly covered their ears. "Hopefully my new workers heard that. If Amelia doesn't come back in a half hour, I'm sending you both in after her."

"Oh goody," Francis mumbled under his breath.

Amelia made her way through the trees. "HELLO! ANYONE THERE? I CAME TO SAVE YOU! WE HAVE A TRUCK!" She repeated this for about ten minutes while she headed deeper into the woods until she finally got a reply.

"WE'RE OVER HERE! MY LITTLE WAGON IS STUCK!"

"WELL IF YOU WOULD GET OUT OF IT…" A second voice complained.

She turned to where the voice was coming from and made out two shadowy figures up ahead of her. "OK! I SEE YOU!"

She excitedly rushed towards them and when she got closer, she saw a blond guy in a little kid's wagon while another guy was attempting to pull it over a large root.

"Hello!" Amelia waved at them. "I'm Amelia! I'm a hero!"

The guy in the wagon waved back. "Well hello, Miss Hero! I am Feliks and this is Toris. He is like my wagon-puller."

"That is not my job," Toris snapped then turned towards Amelia. "Thank you, Miss. We had a zombie attack a few days ago and our group split up. We haven't been able to find to others yet. So… You said you have a truck?"

"Yep," Amelia replied cheerfully, "I'm traveling with others. We have food and supplies."

"Oh wow," Toris exclaimed, "That is wonderful. We are very hungry and really need a change of clothes."

"I like the sound of that!" Feliks laughed. "Let's go then!"

"Then get out of the wagon and walk! I cannot pull you through this forest." Toris dropped the handle.

"I am serious!"

"But I have a sprain after dealing with the zombies! It hurts like heck!"

"No you don't. You just do not want to walk!"

Amelia walked over and lifted the wagon. "I'll just carry it then!"

Feliks was astounded by her strength. "This is so awesome! Just do not drop me, please!"

"Wait! We have to go get Mr. Eduard…" Toris looked over his shoulder and noticed a figure of a woman holding a shovel coming closer. His expression grew grave. "… and Miss Anya."

**Chapter 9**

The rest of the afternoon was spent allowing the new workers… members of the team to clean up and get to know the others.

"So you're missing the rest of your group?" Chun-Yan asked.

"Yes," Eduard replied, "We were attacked by a group of zombies and had to split up. We have not found them yet."

"Don't worry. I'll have Arthur send his "friends" out to look for them. They found you, after all."

"I… I do not know what you are talking about but I am fine with that."

Chun-Yan looked over Eduard's shoulder at his laptop. "Is that solar powered?"

"Yes it is. Even though there is no internet anymore; with this I can still use other programs."

"Oh, you're smart!"

"Why yes I am," he stated in a manly voice.

"Do you think you can make solar powered farm equipment?"

"Errr… I can try."

"You're a nerd so I'm sure you can do it!" Chun-Yan gave him a quick slap on the back.

Anya sat on a chair and gripped her shovel tightly in her hands as she intensely watched over Toris helping Amelia organize her semi-trailer.

Feliks "helpfully" gave the two orders from his little wagon. "No, do not put that there! Just like put it on the other box! You'll have more room!"

Toris put the box down. "Miss Amelia, how did come across all this ammo? I have never seen so much."

"You think that's a lot?"

Toris laughed nervously. "I guess if zombies were smart they would think twice before messing with you, Miss Amelia."

"I haven't run into a smart one yet."

Anya glared. She did not like how Toris was following Amelia around so much in such a short time.

"I like your tent," Feliks remarked.

"Chun-Yan has more tents in her trailer! Since you'll be working for her for the rest of your life, she won't mind you if you use them," Amelia exclaimed way too cheerfully.

"Toris, put up a tent for me," Anya commanded.

"Um, uh…" Toris stammered, "Of course, Miss Anya."

Chun-Yan walked over to Feliks. "What's with the wagon? Were you bitten by a zombie because my policy is to quickly kill anyone infected before…"

"Oh no! Nothing like that." Feliks interrupted as he turned over in his wagon. "I like have a sprain, you see."

"You do not!" Toris yelled from inside the trailer.

"I am a fierce fighter! I can help protect your farm as soon as my ankle heals!"

"Uh-huh," Chun-Yan muttered and turned to Anya. "You're a quiet one, aren't you? So what can you do?"

Anya spoke without taking her eyes off of Toris, "I can hit zombie with shovel."

Chun-Yan suddenly became very cold. "Where did that draft come from? Well… You will be able to accomplish a ton with that shovel on the farm."

"Digging graves for zombies?"

To change the subject, Chun-Yan called to Francis. "That smells wonderful! Cooking something special tonight?"

"All of my cooking is special," Francis bragged.

Arthur walked up to him and said under his breath, "Are you only doing this to impress Anya? Well, my friends say hell will freeze over first so don't even bother."

"Oh." Francis silently bemoaned his bad luck with the ladies.


	4. Pasrt 10-12

**Chapter 10**

"We are in this area according to the data I entered into my program," Eduard explained while he pointed to the map on his laptop screen, "This circle represents the area the other half of our group could possibly in be right now if they survived that attack."

"That is a handy little program you have there!" Chun-Yan nodded with approval.

Eduard did a manly pose while sparkling. "Why thank you, Miss. I programmed it myself."

Chun-Yan ignored him while she called out to Arthur. "Hey! Tell your friends to go search this area! We'll wait for them here until they get back!"

"They said they don't work for you," Arthur reminded her.

"You work for me so they work for me by default!"

"Fine… fine."

Anya emerged from her tent then rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning, Miss Anya." Eduard quivered. "Chun-Yan declared today a day-off so there was no need to wake you. I calculated where the others in a group might be and…"

Anya wasn't paying attention as she watched Amelia and Feliks draw in sketchbooks with crayons while Toris sat right next to her while he made lemonade.

Eduard finally realized Anya wasn't listening to him and changed the subject. "Errr… Um… Unfortunately, Mr. Francis decided to take a nap in Miss Amelia's wagon but I am sure Mr. Toris will make you something to eat if you would like."

Anya stormed over and squeezed between Amelia and Toris. "What are you doing?"

"Morning!" Amelia happily waved because she couldn't read the atmosphere. "We're having an important brain-storming session! Since we're in the hero business, we're coming up with a logo for my truck."

"Like yeah… Warriors of Justice need a totally awesome logo." Feliks held up his doodles of ponies dressed up as super heroes. "I think one of these would be a great logo because Amelia has a ton of horsepower!"

Amelia handed Anya a sketchbook. "You can come up with ideas too! Anything will work as long as it's hero themed."

Anya reluctantly took the sketchbook from her and grabbed a few crayons from the box.

"Toris," Feliks whined, "I dropped my crayon! Like… Get it for me!"

"Get out of your wagon and it yourself! Stop being lazy," Toris grumbled as he handed a cup of lemonade to Amelia.

Feliks pouted and pathetically leaned out of his wagon and tried to reach his crayon. "Can… not… reach…"

Toris sighed and pushed it closer to him with his foot. He began to hand a cup to Anya when he noticed she was drawing a picture of Amelia getting trampled by a horse. As she grabbed for the cup, he snatched her sketchbook away before Amelia saw it.

"Miss Anya!" Toris scolded. "I need to talk to you over there for a moment… alone!"

Anya was shocked as she followed him to a nearby tree. He never acted so brave before. She assumed this was because he had Amelia around for protection.

"Miss Anya," Toris said sternly, "You have to stop doing things like that. All of us will be together for a long time so you need to learn how to make friends whether you like it or not."

Anya huffed. "Do not be silly! I know how to make friends!"

"I do not mean by force!"

Anya looked confused. "That is not how you make friends?"

"No!"

"Why do you make things so difficult?"

"You have to calm down and start playing nice, Miss Anya! We all have to work together as a team and help each other out. Just try to get along with Miss Amelia? How about for starters you draw a nice picture? A drawing of something cute such as a kitty or a rainbow would work. No more morbid things, OK?"

She glared at him as he walked away. She muttered to herself, "How does one make friends?"

**Chapter 11**

It was a blazingly hot day so Amelia and Chun-Yan decided to get some sun on their day off. They put on their bikinis and grabbed beach towels from the trailer.

"This is going to be fun!" Amelia laughed. "I'm surprised that you even give days-off."

"Well, of course I give days off! Workers need their time-off once in a while. I wouldn't want my favorite employee getting worn out from all that running." Chun-Yan spread out her towel on the grass. "I couldn't have picked a better day!"

"As long as there is no one around to save, I can use some relaxation."

The guys admired the view from a safe distance to avoid any unnecessary conflicts. The internet was no more so they had to get their kicks somewhere. The zombie outbreak made them realize that they all really, really missed the internet. This was the only "entertainment" they were going to get for a while so they might as well enjoy it. They pretended they were doing something productive so the girls wouldn't catch them leering at their butts.

Anya sat in the shade tapping her pen on a notebook. She didn't like to be out in the sun. The only sun she liked was sunflowers. With this notebook, she wanted to brainstorm and write down ideas on how to make friends without using threats of violence. The page was still blank. Making friends the normal way is hard.

Toris broke away from the group of ogling guys and went into Chun-Yan's trailer to search for something. After and few minutes, he exited the trailer and headed over to Anya and handed her a bottle of sunblock. "Miss Anya, I think this can help you."

Anya stared at him questionably as he returned to the group of perverts. She does not tan. Does he want to make a burnt Russian? Why did he give her this stupid bottle anyway? She glanced over her side at Amelia and Chun-Yan lying on their towels sleeping. Did Toris want her to use this bottle as a way of interacting with them?

Anya stood up and slowly creeped over to the sleeping pair. For several moments, she stood over them and wondered how she was going to go about with her plan. When she was ready, she opened the bottle and squirted them both in the back. They quickly awoke.

Chun-Yan yelped and stared at her. "Yaaahhhh! W… What are you doing?"

"Putting this on your backs," Anya replied as she showed her the bottle. "That is how you use this, yes?"

"Well… Yes… But you can't leave it like that. You have to rub it all over."

"Oh." Anya knelt down between them and started rubbing both their backs.

Amelia shivered. "Eek! Your hands are cold! Brrr!"

"Did you put your hands in the cooler or something?" Chun-Yan asked.

"My hands are always cold," Anya said with a hint of sadness.

Chun-Yan looked over her shoulder and looked back at the guys who were now getting way too excited over this scene. "What are those stupid boys up too? They are a pathetically desperate bunch."

Anya glanced behind her and saw Eduard holding his laptop pretty suspiciously towards them. Was he taping this for later viewing? She bent down and whispered to Chun-Yan, "I must smash that laptop. Then I must smash their faces in."

"Do what you have to do. Just stick to their faces and leave their limbs alone, OK?"

Anya stood up and started to rush the guys as they shrieked and scrambled to get away.

"Um…" Amelia looked at Chun-Yan. "Why did you say to leave their limbs alone?"

"It's simple! They can't work with broke limbs…" Chun-Yan chuckled. "But they can work with broken faces!"

"Makes sense," Amelia nodded and went back to sleep with the sounds of screaming behind her.

**Chapter 12**

Francis enjoyed another beautiful night of silence as he sat in a lawn chair and took a sip of wine from Chun-Yan's stash. He made it a habit of staying up all night and then going to sleep in Amelia's wagon after he made breakfast. As long as Amelia didn't start dashing somewhere, it was a pretty nice sleep in her wagon. He wasn't forced to stay awake by "The Boss" or anything. He did it because he loved the night, he wanted to protect the ladies, he got full access to the wine, and he refused to share a tent with Arthur.

"About another hour to go until sunrise," Francis reminded himself. Soon he would have to start making breakfast then get ready for bed. For now, he will enjoy the wine.

Francis heard a noise. He turned and silently observed Anya as she crawled out of her tent and headed towards Amelia's. She slowly unzipped the tent's door and carefully entered. Francis took another sip of his wine. He liked where this was going.

"Maybe I should start a bit early today," Francis muttered, "I don't think she's going to last long in there. Believe me, I would know. She kneed me." He finished his wine then stood up. He quickly folded the lawn chair and put it back in the trailer.

Anya quickly scrambled out of the wagon.

"I knew it," Francis said to himself in a low voice.

Anya stormed into the men's tent and dragged a screaming Toris out of it.

"Take one for the team, Toris!" Feliks called out to him.

Toris cried, "Miss Anya! MISS ANYA! What is going on?"

Anya pushed him into her tent then went in herself. She grabbed him tightly. "Toris, I do not like this! It is too hard!"

He wheezed, "Miss… Anya… I am having… trouble… breathing…"

Anya let him go. "Your plan of friendship is not working!"

"Miss Anya, it has only been one day! Friendship does not happen quickly. It might take some time. I thought you were doing pretty well until you started chasing everyone in a rage."

"I tried to get closer to her by sleeping with her and she kneed me!"

"Why did you think that would work?" Toris shook his head. "Never mind… Do not take it so personally, Miss Anya! I heard Miss Amelia tosses and turns in her sleep from Mr. Francis. He said that she elbowed him in the head constantly."

"But he deserves to be hit in the head."

"Miss Anya, you are overthinking things. How about this? People become friends when they both have something in common. What do you and Miss Amelia have in common?"

Anya thought for a moment. "Big breasts."

Toris blushed. "True but that is not what I meant. You like fighting zombies, right?"

"Yes."

"Amelia likes fighting zombies too. You two have something in common, see?"

"So… You believe we can become friends by massacring zombies together?"

Toris hesitated. "Yes… Yes you can say that. It is a start."

"I guess I could try that," she nodded.

Toris slowly scooched backwards heading for the exit. "How about you go back to sleep for a few hours and wake up to a nice breakfast, OK?" Before she could answer, he made it out of the tent and sprinted off to a safe distance.


	5. Parts 13-15

**Chapter 13**

"So your friends told you they found the rest of their group?" Chun-Yan asked Arthur as they stood behind a tree away from the others.

"Shhhh!" Arthur nervously looked around. "Not so loud! There's bad news. The quickest way to get to them is blocked off by a large group of zombies."

"I see," Chun-Yan said in a low voice. "If Amelia finds out, she'll head straight for them and waste all that precious ammo."

"Correct."

"What should we do?"

"Doubling-back the way we came is the safest route. It'll take three times as long but my friends will make sure we don't lose them."

"I understand. We'll just tell everyone we are heading back to my place and then mention the survivors when we get back to that one road."

They come out from behind the tree and notice Amelia gearing up with several guns.

Chun-Yan shook her head. "What are you doing now, you crazy girl?"

"My hero sense is tingling. There must be zombies nearby." Amelia loaded one of her guns.

"No… My friends said haven't seen any!" Arthur insisted.

"My hero sense is never wrong. They probably just didn't look hard enough."

Arthur grumbled. "Fine! There are zombies but we are going to go around and avoid them!"

"No can do!"

"Wait just a minute! There is no need for unnecessary encounters."

"Heroes can't just leave zombies running around to infect others. I got to take them out!"

Arthur rubbed his temple. "Keep them damage down to a minimum, will you?"

Francis popped his head out of the wagon-tent. "And don't burn anything down again!"

"Check this out, Toris!" Feliks called out as he came out of the back of Amelia's trailer decked out in some her many, many guns. "Grab a few and let us go blast some zombies!"

"Y… You cannot be serious, Mr. Feliks! Put Miss Amelia's guns back!"

"I wanted to try these guns out since I first saw them. They are huge! The zombies will explode!" Feliks laughed.

"I see your ankle is better," Toris pointed out to change the subject.

"I am like the phoenix. Instead of rising from ashes, my ankle mysteriously heals just like that! It is crazy, yes?"

"You just wanted me to pull you in the wagon," Toris said in an irritated tone.

"Here you go!" Feliks he handed Toris a rifle. "You worry too much! If things go wrong, we just hide behind Miss Hero. It will be fine."

Amelia shouted, "Whoever's going with me… LET'S GO! Everyone else… WATCH MY STUFF!" She obnoxious laughed as she started racing up the road. "HERO!"

Feliks followed right behind her. "Come on, Toris! It will be lots of fun!"

"I cannot believe this," Toris muttered sadly before running behind them. "WAIT FOR ME!"

Anya sat up from the tree she was sitting against and stretched. "That is right. We can bond over killing zombies. I will go with them then." She grabbed her shovel.

"Don't you want to take a gun or something?" Chun-Yan asked her.

"My shovel will be good enough," Anya assured her with frightening smile.

**Chapter 14**

Feliks fired a round into a few remaining zombies that were still twitching on the ground. "That takes care of them! I am totally enjoying this hero business very much."

Toris scoffed. "You enjoy this? I thought you preferred being pulled around in wagon all day!"

"I can like both. It would be even better if I could mount a huge gun to the wagon and shoot zombies from there!" Feliks laughed.

Amelia walked over to them with a satisfied expression on her face. "This hero mission has been a huge success! Now we can go back to the others and go… Uh, go where ever the hell we're headed to!"

"That is right! We have to find the others!" Toris rang his hands together. "I do hope they are OK."

"I'm sure they're fine," Amelia reassured them. "Maybe they ran into Maddie!"

"Maddie… That is your sister, Miss Amelia?"

"Yeah! If she found them then they would have nothing to fear because she has a hockey stick!"

"But why are you not with Miss Maddie right now?"

"I couldn't find her anywhere the day we were supposed to leave. She probably got lost or something."

"She's lost?"

"I'm surprised I haven't found her yet. She should be wandering around here somewhere."

"Hey guys," Feliks interrupted and pointed up the road. "Look over there! There are like people coming. I do not think they are zombies."

Amelia winked at Toris. "See? We found the rest of your group!"

Toris shook his head. "That is not our group, Miss Amelia. They do not look familiar."

"Really? Weird."

Feliks patted Toris on the back. "Do not worry, Toris. They are totally fine."

"I'll call them over!" Amelia jumped up and down while she waved her arms at the newcomers. "HEY! OVER HERE!"

Suddenly, one of the figures raced towards Amelia. He stopped centimeters from her face. "Hello there, bella! I'm so very happy to see you! Zombies are so scary! I was traveling with Monika and Kiku but our car hit a zombie and went into a ditch. We started to walk when we heard gunfire coming from over here. I usually run away from gunfire but Monika reminded me that during a zombie outbreak gunfire means there are survivors around. She was right! Seeing a beautiful lady with your huge guns like you here makes things ever better! My name is Feliciano but you can call me whatever you want, bella!"

"My name's not Bella. It's Amelia!"

"Oh Amelia, that's such a pretty name!" Feliciano glanced around and noticed Feliks and Toris. "You're traveling with people too!"

"Yep! This is Feliks and that's Toris. Anya's over there!"

At the sound of a woman's name, Feliciano happily turned to see this Anya. "Hello, Anya!"

With her shovel, Anya casually threw a pile of dirt into a newly dug grave. She stopped and waved at Feliciano. "Hello there, this will not take long." A zombie tried to claw its way out of the grave but Anya calmly hit it in the head with her shovel which caused it to fall back in. She continued to shovel more dirt on it.

Feliciano shuddered. "Um… Monika and Kiku will be over here it a moment. Yeah."

**Chapter 15**

"Monika! Kiku!" Feliciano waved to them as they walked closer, "Come on over and say hello!"

"Feliciano!" Monika yelled as she stormed over to him.

He panicked. "What? What did I do?"

"How could you just run off like that?" Monika scolded.

"Sorry, Monika! I won't do it again."

"There could have been more zombies around or they could have been infected! Why would you do such a stupid thing?"

"I would do a lot of stupid things for a pretty lady," Feliciano admitted.

"Well start thinking with your head next time, idiot! You already crashed our only working car today because you were speeding!"

"At least I crashed it into a zombie…"

"It doesn't matter! We needed that car! I told you to drive carefully!"

"That ride was a most unpleasant experience," Kiku added from behind her.

"It's going to take us days to get back there now! I hope you like walking because until we get back we're going to keep moving sunrise to sunset!"

Feliciano knew he had to change the subject and do it quickly. "But listen, Monika! We have new friends now! Isn't that great, Monika? This bella's name is Amelia and she's the leader of a hero team! Amelia, Anya, and those other two guys just took down all these scary zombies for us and the rest of their group is waiting by trucks with supplies and foods! We don't have to sleep on the ground or hunt for our own food. That's so lucky for us! It's doubly lucky for me that Amelia has a pair of huge…"

Monika glared at him.

"…guns. Um… yeah."

Monika rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Amelia. "Is it true about what he said?"

"Yep! I have big guns!" Amelia nodded as she held them up. "See?"

Monika shook her head. "No! No, I meant if it was true you are traveling with a larger group?"

"I'll take you to them. We have tons of stuff since we heroically broke into a distribution center for the good of everybody!"

"I told you, Monika!" Feliciano happily patted Monika on the back. "There's nothing to worry about!"

"I guess you're right," Monika acknowledged.

Amelia glanced over at Kiku. "Is that a real sword?"

"Yes," Kiku responded as he pulled the sword out of the sheath, "This samurai sword is a perfect replica of the one used in my favorite manga. I went through 32 volumes to make sure it was exactly like the sword in every way except for the fact it cannot turn into a big-breasted elf like in the manga. Zombies have no chance against it. It cuts through them like they were sheets of paper. I never believed I would have to use this in such a way considering how much it cost me."

"Cool! I like guns."

"I can see that, yes."

"Miss Amelia… The others are probably wondering where we are right now," Toris remind her.

Amelia smacked her hand in her palm. "That's right! We better get going. OK, HERO TEAM! WE'RE GOING BACK!"

"That is perfect timing because I have just finished burying the poor soul," Anya creepily whispered in Toris' ear. He jumped in terror.

"Yay! Let's go so I can eat and take a nap!" Feliciano cheered.


	6. Part 16-18

Characters so far: Amelia(fem!USA), Francis(France), Chun-Yan(fem!China), Arthur(U.K.), Feliks(Poland), Toris(Lithuania), Eduard(Estonia), Anya(fem!Russia), Feliciano(N. Italy), Monika(fem!Germany), Kiku(Japan)

**Chapter 16**

"I don't see them yet," Chun-Yan commented as she looked through her binoculars. "Why are they taking so long? The gunfire ended a while ago. I hope they didn't get lost."

"No… My friends said they should be coming over that hill any moment now with your new employees," Arthur replied.

"Any new lady employees?" Francis asked hopefully.

"My friends say that she's probably not the type you're looking for. She's very muscular and authoritative."

"Nuts. It feels like life is making fun of me for being such a romantic lover."

"Romantic lover? Nauseating creep is a title much more suited for you."

"You know, it's not very intelligent to insult the one who cooks your meals every day."

"Hush you two!" Chun-Yan ordered. "I see them now! Is this your missing group?" She handed the binoculars to Eduard.

"N… No," Eduard stammered as he looked, "It is not them! Oh my… Then that means… RAIVISSSSSSSS!"

"What the hell was that for?"

"Oh sorry! It… It is a habit of mine. It is very hard to break. I am sure they are fine. They probably just headed the wrong way and gotten lost. Yes." Eduard handed the binoculars back to her.

"Thank you. I'm sure Arthur's friends will spot them eventually." Chun-Yan looked through the binoculars again. "Another scrawny boy. Oh well… Muscle girl… I like her already! She'll be very useful. And then… He looks familiar. He looks like…"

"You know him?" Arthur asked.

"I do! Kiku… I can't believe that nerd-boy is still alive."

Eduard asked, "Is he another tech nerd like me?"

"I wish!" Chun-Yan scoffed. "He's not a skillful nerd with electronics like you. He reads comics all day and doesn't like going out in the sun. He lived with us at my place for a few weeks then disappeared. We thought he got eaten by wolves or something."

"I can't imagine why he left," Arthur whispered to Francis under his breath.

Amelia ran happily towards them and made a victory pose. "SUCCESS! Hero Team had another successful mission! All zombies in the area have been annihilated and victims have been rescued!"

Monika scratched her head. "Um… We weren't in danger…"

"Miss Amelia just does that," Toris quietly explained to her, "It makes her happy."

"Kiku!" Chun-Yan barked.

Kiku jumped. "M… Miss Chun-Yan! Hello! I did not expect you to be here."

"We wondered where you went! Where the hell where you all this time?

"Well… I wanted…"

"Wait, wait, wait…" Feliciano interrupted, "There's plenty of time for explanations! How about we tell them over dinner! I'm starving!"

**Chapter 17**

Chun-Yan had Arthur set up lawn chairs around a campfire for Monika and Kiku while she set up her own personal comfy chair.

"Thank you. Do you have a seat too?" Kiku asked as he sat down.

Arthur leaned towards him and whispered, "I rather stand behind her so when she says something utterly ridiculous I can make disgusted faces behind her back without her noticing."

"I understand completely," Kiku replied as Arthur found a spot behind Chun-Yan's chair.

"Go ahead, Kiku," Monika said as she leaned back in her chair.

Kiku started, "Now I will tell you where I have been for the past few weeks."

Chun-Yan glared at Kiku. "You better have a good reason for leaving!"

Kiku took a deep breath. "I left because I did not want to be a farmer for the rest of my life; I wanted to live the life of a lone samurai. I would live just like my favorite manga character!"

Chun-Yan scoffed.

Kiku continued, "It was great for the first few days but after a week of traveling aimlessly, I realized being a lone samurai was not as glamorous in reality as it was in manga. I also forgot to make a bow and a quiver of arrows to bring with me so I could hunt efficiently. I gave up trying to be a samurai and I started to travel back to the farm. While trying to make my way back, I luckily stumbled upon a big group of survivors living in a town together."

"There's a town?" Arthur gave a quick smile as he realized now he might have a chance to ditch Chun-Yan entirely.

"The town was left in good condition so it is a very tolerable place to live. This is where I met Miss Monika and Mr. Feliciano."

"Why out you wandering out here now?"

"We were on our way to your place but we… ran into car problems."

All eyes fell on Feliciano who was not paying attention to their conversation but to what Francis was cooking for dinner.

Monika let out a sigh then looked at Chun-Yan. "We already checked possible routes on our map and our places are only around 112 kilometers apart. On a bike, it would only take two days of travel at most."

Chun-Yan stood up. "Then it's decided! Tomorrow, we'll head to your town! I want to see it for myself!"

Monika nodded. "That's fine. The others are probably worried since we should've been back by now. I hope my brother remembered to feed my babies."

"Of course he fed them… Your brother is crazy about your dogs! He would never let them starve," Feliciano reassured her from behind.

"How long were you standing back there?!"

"Just now."

"We'll discuss further plans and details after dinner." Chun-Yan grinned at Monika. "I can't wait to meet more future employees!"

Monika shot Arthur a questioning look. He just shook his head and walked off.

**Chapter 18**

"Hi, bella!" Feliciano cheerfully greeted Amelia as he strolled over to where Amelia's "hero team" was having their nightly meeting. Amelia and Feliks drew with crayons as usual. Near them, Toris was forced to sit in Anya's lap while she ran her fingers through his hair. He looked really uncomfortable.

Amelia looked up from her paper and smiled. "Hi! It's Amelia though."

"Monika sent me over here to hang with you while the adults are talking. She says I have a problem being quiet."

"I hear that a lot too. Hey… Do you want to join my hero team? I only have two sidekicks right now. A leader like me can never have enough sidekicks to destroy zombies and bad guys with."

Anya huffed. "I do not like this job title of "sidekick"… but I do like the job description."

"Why did you say you only have two sidekicks when there are three of us, Miss Amelia?" Toris asked.

"That's because you're not a sidekick. You're the team's manager," Amelia replied.

"I do not understand. What does a team manager do, Miss Amelia?"

"You're sort of like what Alfred is to Batman. You're an advisor so you organize stuff and keep the team from doing stupid things."

"Oh… I see, Miss Amelia."

Feliciano nervously scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, bella but fighting zombies isn't for me. I'm more of a lover than a fighter, you see. I wouldn't be that much of help to you. Zombies are so scary! The first time I saw one, I hid under Monika's shirt. She didn't like that very much."

"Monika is like pretty strong and stuff," Feliks noted. "Would she like to join?"

"I doubt it. I don't think your group has much use for a veterinarian anyway." Feliciano looked over at Amelia's drawing. "You guys like to color? I like to do that too!"

Amelia nodded. "Yep! We are coming up with our hero symbol design so we can paint it on our trailer."

"We decided on a pink pony with a battle saddle with huge guns," Feliks added while he held up his drawing.

"Guess what?" Feliciano exclaimed, "I'm an artist! I can paint your trailer for you! I have my paint at the town so I'll just draw a bunch of potential hero ponies for you until then. You can pick out your favorite when I'm done."

Amelia stood up and bounced excitedly. "Really? You'll do that for us?"

"Sure, bella! It'll give me something to do for a while and if I have something to do then Monika won't make me train. I prefer painting to running laps."

Amelia handed Feliciano paper and crayons. He started to draw as Amelia and Feliks watched over his shoulder.

"Oh wow! You're good!" Amelia noted.

"Thank you! This should be really easy to do even though I never drawn any pink battle ponies before."

Toris wanted to watch also but Anya would not let go. "Miss Anya…" he begged while he struggled in her lap.

Anya gave him an irritated look then finally let him go.

"Do you want to watch too, Miss Anya?" Toris asked her.

"Not really." Anya shrugged. "Maybe if he was drawing a sunflower with a shovel, I would be interested. Maybe."


	7. Part 19-21

**Chapter 19**

The next morning after breakfast, Amelia noticed Kiku was reading one of his manga. She walked over and leaned over his shoulder to get a better look. "Ooooo… comics! I love comics!"

"Y… Yes. Manga… is my life." Kiku stammered because Amelia's breasts were brushing up against him. Real women's breasts were completely different from the cartoony 2D kind he was used to.

"What's that guy saying?" She pointed to a speech bubble on the top of the page.

"He… He is saying he will get revenge for his brother's death and rid the world of evil."

"Oh, it's that type of comic. Classic. What's that other guy saying?"

"He is saying…"

Kiku was interrupted by Arthur's sudden laughter.

"What are you laughing about?" Francis asked Arthur irritably.

Arthur chuckled. "Oh, my friends are trying to pull my leg. Those wankers…"

"What were they telling you?"

"They said they spotted a polar bear! That's absurd! Why would a polar bear be roaming around here? I don't think there are any zoos nearby either."

"Really? Polar bear?"

"Not just a polar bear. A polar bear pulling a wagon! Isn't that the silliest thing you ever heard?"

"Hey!" Amelia stood up and cheered. "It's Maddie! Yay!"

Feliciano was confused. "Your sister is a polar bear?"

"No, no… The polar bear is her pet."

Arthur looked worried. "My friends didn't mention seeing your sister. Aren't you concerned?"

"Nah. She has a hockey stick. She's probably hanging out in her wagon. It's just like my wagon but mine is now cooler because it has a tent on it."

"I'm glad your sister is safe, Amelia." Francis stared at her in disbelief. "But why didn't you ever mention the polar bear before?"

Amelia shrugged.

"Arthur," Chun-Yan questioned, "Did your friends say anything about zombies being nearby?"

"One moment." Arthur turned to his friends. "No, they said they didn't see any."

"That's good." Chun-Yan turned to Amelia. "You can go get your sister. We'll stay right here until you get back. My oxen need a break anyway."

"OK! Let's go get my sister!" Amelia shouted as she made a heroic pose. "HERO TEAM ASSEMBLE!"

"Nyet. I will pass," Anya replied, "If there are no zombie heads to bash in, I am not interested. I am going back to bed."

"Arthur, you go with them so they don't get lost," Chun-Yan ordered.

"I'll go too," Francis added, "I cannot just stand by while a beautiful lady might be in distress."

Chun-Yan rolled her eyes. "Yeah… Keep dreaming, playboy."

**Chapter 20**

"Toris, can you like… pull the wagon faster? You are going totally slow and stuff," Feliks whined.

"You should be walking! Your ankle is fine!" Toris snapped.

"Like… my ankle hurts again."

"No, it does not!"

"So did you spot her yet?" Amelia asked Arthur as he looked through his binoculars.

Arthur nodded. "You were right. There's your sister sitting on the polar bear. I see she is wearing a hockey stick so that must be her."

Amelia walked past him. "Of course I was right."

"Is it safe to go near Miss Maddie's bear, Miss Amelia?" Toris asked nervously.

"Sure," Amelia waved for them to follow her, "Kumajiro was basically raised on pancakes and poutine."

"That is good to know, Miss Amelia."

Amelia sprinted towards Maddie. "HEY MADDIE! IT'S ME! MADDIE! I FOUND YOU!"

"Hey… Wait up!" Arthur called out while he and the others followed behind her.

As they got closer, Kumajiro turned towards them.

Toris shivered. "Even though Miss Amelia said it was fine, I am still nervous. That is a big bear."

Feliks chuckled. "Do not worry. If the bear is hungry, he will go after her first."

"Please do not say things like that."

Amelia ran up to Kumajiro and gave him a quick pet on the top of his head. "Hi there! Miss me?"

Feliks stifled a laugh when he could have sworn that he saw the bear shrug at her.

"Do you want a Twinkie?" Amelia pointed at her pack.

Feliks burst into laughter when the bear nodded and Amelia fed him one of her Twinkies.

During all this, Arthur noticed Maddie was sitting with her head titled downwards. "Um… Amelia, is your sister all right? She doesn't seem to be moving."

"Oh." Amelia tapped Maddie's leg. "MADDIE! We got new friends! Wake up! Wake up! Maddie! WAKE… UP! Huh, I guess she doesn't want to."

"Oh, this is bad!" Francis panicked. "Maybe the town has a doctor there! We should…"

Amelia laughed. "Don't worry! It's OK! She falls asleep randomly all the time… usually mid-sentence. She's just a heavy sleeper. She can fall asleep at the weirdest of times."

"Miss Amelia? Can you wake her up?" Toris asked with a concerned tone.

"It's easy!" Amelia stepped back a bit from Kumajiro. "Maddie… Maddie… Curling is not a sport."

Maddie's eyes suddenly opened. "CURLING IS TOO A SPORT!" She screamed as she flailed, almost causing her to fall backwards. After she regained her balance, she looked down to see she had a crowd staring at her in amazement.

Amelia waved at her. "Hi, Maddie!"

She blushed. "Hello, Amelia. Hello, everyone. I'm Maddie. Nice to meet you."

Amelia grinned back at Toris. "See? I told you."

**Chapter 21**

"Maddie!" Amelia fumed, "Why did you leave without me? We were supposed to leave together! I looked all over for you!"

"Oh," Maddie gasped as she slipped off of Kumajiro and hugged her sister. "No, I didn't leave you! I went to my secret place and accidentally fell asleep."

"You went to your secret place in the middle of the night?"

"Yes. When I woke up, the sun was starting to set. I got back home and you weren't there I knew you must have left hours ago thinking that I already left because I didn't think I would fall asleep at my secret place. I realized you couldn't find me because I was at my secret place and only I know where my secret place is. In hindsight, I should have left a note or something…"

Amelia interrupted, "Why did you go to your secret place in the middle of the night?"

Maddie looked like she was about to cry. "I had a nightmare! I dreamt that zombies broke in and stole all my backup reserve of maple syrup while we were away."

"You dreamt that zombies took your maple syrup?"

"I freaked out. I had to make sure my reserve was in a safe place."

"Maddie… Zombies want brain sap, not tree sap."

"I know but just to be on the safe side, I spent most of the night moving my stash to my secret place. At least I know it'll be untouched until I get back."

"I don't know why you worry so much, you can always make more."

Maddie glared. "No one steals maple syrup from me… no one."

Amelia sighed. "Whatever. How was your trip so far?"

"Pretty uneventful." Maddie glanced over Amelia's shoulder. "I see you had quite the journey."

"Yep!" Amelia boasted, "Feliks and Toris are a part of my hero team! Francis and Arthur tagged along because… I don't know."

"How wonderful!" Maddie walked behind Kumajiro to her wagon and lifted the tarp, uncovering tons of bottles of maple syrup.

"That is a lot of bottles!" Feliks said in amazement.

Maddie handed him a bottle. "About a hundred."

"Thank you," Toris said as he took a bottle from her, "I bet your syrup tastes really good since you make it yourself."

Maddie nodded. "My syrup is the best in the world! If there is any better, I haven't tasted it yet."

Amelia motioned to her sister. "Come on, Maddie! There are more people waiting for us to get back."

"More people?"

"Yep! We're all traveling together at the moment to find Chun-Yan some workers for her farm. She gave me a truck!"

"Oh dear. I hope I brought enough bottles for everyone."

"You said you brought a hundred of them. That should be plenty!"

"I don't know," Maddie pondered, "One can never have enough maple syrup."


	8. Part 22-24

**Chapter 22**

"We're back!" Amelia exclaimed, "Hey, Maddie! See the animals? Isn't that cool? And over there is my truck!"

Maddie nodded. "Yes. That's a pretty nice truck."

"We're traveling with an artist who said he'll make my truck look heroic and professional! We decided our logo is going to be this awesome pony with…"

"Amelia," Maddie said abruptly, "Sorry… but that guy's running towards us."

"Huh? Oh that's just the artist I was talking about. He does that for some reason."

Feliciano excitedly rushed up to them and took Maddie's hand and kissed it. Not even a big, scary polar bear could keep him from immediately introducing himself to a lady. "Hello, bella! I'm Feliciano! I heard about you! Your sister said she couldn't find you and we were so worried but you're OK! I'm glad because your sister is so pretty that I knew you would be pretty too!"

Maddie was completely bewildered. "Th… Thank you. I'm Maddie. Eh… Would you like a bottle of my maple syrup?"

"Your maple syrup? You made it yourself? Oh thank you, bella! It smells so good! I can't wait to try it! I bet it's so wonderful that it'll make the bland pancake mix we have to eat taste heavenly for once!"

"Pancake mix?"

Feliciano let out an overdramatic moan. "It's terrible! All the good food in town spoiled already so the only thing we have is imperishable bland food." He quickly smiled and pointed to Chun-Yan. "But the good news is that she has a farm so soon we can eat real food! We can all work on the farm and eat fresh food for the rest of our lives! Isn't that great? The more company the better… especially when the company is more beautiful ladies and I love the beautiful ladies…"

"Feliciano!" Monika growled as he grabbed him by the shirt. "Come with me! Do you always have to act like a buffoon? She just arrived, give her some space!"

"But Monika! I'm just trying to be friendly…"

"There's a difference between being friendly and being obnoxious, idiot!"

As Monika dragged him off, Amelia leaned over to her overwhelmed sister and whispered, "I like him. He's funny. He thinks every girl is named Bella."

"Oh, I see… I think."

"Follow me!" Amelia grabbed Maddie's arm. "Let's rejoin the others!"

"OK… Introduce me to everyone because I have to make sure everyone gets a bottle."

"Why?"

"The thought of someone going for weeks without real maple syrup… frightens me. I don't think I would last a day. And don't get me started on those cheap store-brand fakes…"

"Whatever, Maddie. Let's go."

When Maddie finished meeting everyone while talking about the wonders of her pure maple syrup, Amelia pulled her around to show off her truck.

Arthur noticed that Chun-Yan looked a bit disappointed. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," Chun-Yan replied as she glanced down at the bottle in her hand, "I would have preferred that she be another easily-persuadable powerhouse just like her sister. I guess the bear will be very useful moving equipment. Then again… Considering how crazy everyone is, it might be nice chance of pace to finally travel with someone who acts normal like me."

Arthur and Francis quickly backed away and when they were far enough not to be heard, they laughed their asses off. Normal… right.

**Chapter 23**

"Hello," Maddie greeted as she pulled up a lawn chair next to Francis and Arthur, who were bickering about something or other.

"Hello there," Arthur greeted back.

"I hope it's all right to sit here with you guys. Amelia's busy doing stuff with her hero group."

"Of course you can!" Francis assured her. "We were just talking about what to make for dinner. Since you just arrived I think that you should decide what we'll eat tonight. I'll make you anything you want! It'll be my pleasure!"

Maddie blushed. "Thank you! By the way, did you all know each other before the apocalypse?"

"No," Arthur replied, "We all ended up meeting somehow."

Francis chuckled. "Amelia is like a magnet for finding people. Before running into her, I thought I was the last person on Earth."

"Really? How did you meet my sister?" Maddie inquired.

Francis laughed nervously. "I was trapped by zombies in a donut shop and your sister… burned it down."

Maddie nodded. "That sounds like something she'd do."

"Did you think of what you wanted to eat?" Arthur asked.

"Hmm… There are so many good maple syrup recipes I can think of."

"I thought you would be sick of that stuff by now."

"Oh no!" Maddie shook her head. "I will never get sick of maple syrup. It's my life! Making the perfect maple syrup is a complicated process."

"Really?" Eduard hurried over with his laptop. "I am sorry to interrupt but I would love record the process for future reference… if you do not mind."

Arthur stared at the laptop. "Um… I thought Anya broke your laptop the other day."

"She did but I have quite a few spares. I collect any I can find to be on the safe side in case of incidents such as that one. I just have to be careful in how I use them in Miss Anya's presence."

Maddie smiled. "I'm glad you guys are so interested. Amelia finds it boring. So I guess the first thing you have to do is choose what maple tree you want to get your syrup from. You can choose the sugar maple, the black maple, or the red maple. Now the red maple has a shorter season than the other two so…"

Forty-five minutes later, Francis and Arthur struggled not to fall asleep. To keep himself up, Arthur would sporadically punch Francis in the arm. They looked over to Eduard who still typed away on his laptop, completely enthralled by everything she said.

"Boiling the syrup is like a fine science," Maddie continued, "The sugar has to be just right. If you boil it too long, then everything crystalizes. If you don't boil it long enough, it's too watery. The density should be 66 degrees Brix. The Brix scale means…"

"Maddie!" Amelia excitably shouted as she ran over. "Come look at what Feli drew so far for my truck plans! It's awesome!"

"I'm in the middle of talking about the maple syrup process."

"Maddie, Francis has to start cooking before it gets too late. Chun-Yan gets all cranky if she doesn't get her beauty sleep."

"Oh OK." Maddie stood up. "I guess I can continue this later. Bye for now!"

Arthur yawned as he watched Amelia drag her sister off. "I don't think it's too late yet. You usually start around this time. I wonder what that was all about."

Francis answered, "I… I think she just intentionally cockblocked us."

**Chapter 24**

After dinner, the women went off to a private area to have a fun "ladies only" bonfire while the guys stayed around watching the stuff. That didn't mean they couldn't have a party of their own and raid Chun-Yan's wine stash.

"Now this is a party!" Arthur announced as he poured his fifth glass of wine. "Come on, boys! We'll show them! I'll drink anyone under the table!"

Feliks took a big gulp directly from his bottle. "I will take you on! You will regret challenging me!"

"You two better slow down with that," Francis warned, "Mademoiselle Tyrant will get angry if we go through all the booze."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Who cares? Besides I haven't had that much! When I strip down to my boxers, then I know I had enough!"

"Please don't do that! I beg of you!"

"I want to hang out with the pretty ladies," Feliciano pouted while looking at the bonfire in the distance, "Parties are more fun with them."

"That is true," Francis agreed, "but sometimes the ladies just want to talk to each other in private."

"Talk about what?"

Arthur shrugged. "Probably women stuff like gardening and embroidery."

Francis smirked. "But isn't that what you like to do?"

"Quiet, you!"

Francis ignored him and smiled at Feliciano. "I honestly think they wanted to be by themselves is so they can discuss who they think is the hottest out of all of us."

"Really? You think so?" Feliciano asked.

"Sure! They have such a handsome group to choose from." Francis made a quick glance in Arthur's direction. "…Almost all of us."

Arthur quickly yanked Francis' hair and got him into a headlock. "I heard that, frog! What are you implying? Oh so you're saying I don't have a chance, is that it?"

"Let me ask you something… Do you really want to curse the future of humanity with your atrocious eyebrows?" Before Arthur could come up with a retort, Francis used the opportunity to trip him. They both tumbled to the ground in a drunken heap.

Kiku put his manga volume down and sighed. "So noisy. As for me, I swore to always stay loyal to my late girlfriend Akari."

"Oh! I am so sorry!" Toris replied compassionately, "She must have been wonderful girlfriend for you to stay so loyal!"

"Yes. She was the best girlfriend in the world. She was kind, cheerful, and a great listener. We would have dinner together every night. If I had a bad day at work, she would cheer me up. I was going to propose to her soon. I miss her so much."

"That is so sad. May I ask how she died?" Eduard inquired, "Did the zombies get her?"

"Oh no." Kiku pulled out a portable gaming system from his kimono. "Her battery died."

"Um…" Eduard looked down awkwardly. "I think I might be able to help your… uh… girlfriend."

"That would be amazing!" No one has ever seen Kiku act so excited before. "Can you really do it?"

"I… I believe so. Yes! I am a genius with gadgets like that."

"What was that, you say?" Arthur suddenly spoke as he stopped smacking Francis in the head. "At this time of night? That's strange. I wonder how he found us."

"I didn't say anything, idiot!" Francis kicked Arthur off of him.

"I'm not talking to you! I'm talking to my lookout!" Arthur stood up and pointed to his "friend" beside him. "My lookout informed me there's a chap riding a bicycle towards us from the direction of the town."

Toris turned to Feliciano. "I bet it is someone looking for you! The whole town must have been worried when the three of you have not returned yet."

"Ask your lookout if that guy brought beer with him." Feliks held up his empty bottle. "I am not finished yet."


	9. Part 25-27

**Chapter 25**

At the ladies-only bonfire, Chun-Yan took a sip of her wine and continued with her story. "A few days after the start of the outbreak, I saw a group of zombies coming towards my house. I just put new carpet in and I wasn't going to let those assholes wreck it! That carpet was expensive! So I led them away from the house just enough where I could get to my potato harvester. I drove it over those assholes… it made such a mess. It's not working properly now. Stupid zombies." She pointed to Monika. "So how about you?"

"Me?" Monika rubbed the back of her head. "Well… I was dealing with a very stubborn one. It didn't want to stay down so I decided a good kick in the head should do the trick. I ended up kicking its head straight off and it went quite a distance. Feliciano said I would make a great football player." Monika gave herself a self-congratulatory grin.

"I killed a zombie with a curling rock," Maddie bragged.

Anya was having the most fun she had with other people ever. Talking about killing zombies in brutal ways was very enjoyable to her. So this is what this "bonding" thing with people that Toris kept annoying her about. "Wonderful!" Anya clapped then pulled Chun-Yan closer to her and hugged her.

"Er…" Chun-Yan stammered as she wiggled her way out of Anya's friendly hug. "I… I have to cut this little get-together short. I have to tend to the oxen… and make sure the men aren't being stupid."

Anya shrugged then turned and hugged Amelia on her left. Amelia was too busy going through concept sketches for her truck to really care.

Chun-Yan turned and let out a sigh of relief. She took a few steps before she noticed that a man in a long coat riding a bike towards her. Before she could say anything, he rode past her and stopped in front of Anya.

He glared at the group darkly for a moment before he grabbed Anya and tried to sit her on the handle bars. "We are leaving!"

"But I do not want to!" Anya pleaded.

"What's going on here?" Moinka ordered while she clenched her fist. "Who are you?"

"She said "no", jerk!" Amelia yanked the back of his coat. "Get your hands off my sidekick!"

"What?" He growled as he let Anya go and turned towards Amelia. "Sidekick!? How dare you!" He pulled a switchblade from his pocket and pointed it at her. "She is no sidekick!"

Amelia took a few steps back and then smiled psychotically at him. "Are you really going to try that against me, hun?"

"Stop it!" Monika ordered, "Put that away right now!"

While all this was going on, Maddie stealthily walked behind the man and when she had an opening, she whacked him on the side of the knee with her hockey stick. As he howled in pain, he glanced over his shoulder and was surprised to see her behind him. She swiftly disarmed him right before Amelia tackled him to the ground. After Maddie pocketed his blade, she helped Amelia pin him to the ground.

He tried desperately to shake them off. "Get off of me, you stupid bimbos!"

Amelia laughed as she shoved his head into the ground. "You're not in a good position right now to be name-calling, hun."

Monika rubbed in temple in frustration as she asked Anya, "Who is that?"

"He is my brother," Anya replied.

"WHAT?" Everyone screamed in unison.

**Chapter 26**

"What in the bloody hell is going on over here?" Arthur and the rest of the guys finally made it from the main camp.

Feliciano ran over to Monika. "We heard a commotion! What happened here, Monika?"

"I witnessed this and I still don't have a clue," Monika admitted.

Chun-Yan shook her head. "This handsome creep came out of nowhere and grabbed Anya. It turned out he's her brother."

"Mr. Nikolai!" Toris shouted, "Everyone calm down, please! I am so sorry about this, Miss Amelia! Mr. Nikolai is cool but he gets a little overprotective of his sister. He was just very worried about her after being separated after that zombie attack. This has been one big misunderstanding!"

"Are you sure?" Amelia asked dubiously.

"Yes! You will calm down, Mr. Nikolai. Yes? OK! Everything will be cleared up in the morning, Miss Amelia. I will take care of this!"

Amelia and Maddie look at each other. Amelia shrugged and they slowly released Nikolai.

"Thank you! Just head on back everyone and I will clean everything up."

"He did not have that bike before," Eduard noted as he followed the others, "The others in our group must have made it to the town before we did. What a relief! Raivis is fine! I was so worried about him."

Toris waited until everyone was back at the main camp before he helped Nikolai stand up. "Mr. Nikolai… You cannot just threaten women like that! Especially these women! You are lucky you just have a banged up knee. It could have been a lot worse!"

Nikolai sneered at him. "How do you know I started it?"

"We discussed this before, Mr. Nikolai. You have to learn to stop being so hostile around people. When we get to the truck…"

"I am not staying!" Nikolai slowly limped towards the bike. "We are going to the town."

Toris grabbed his arm. "You cannot ride a bike like that. You can barely walk. Besides, it is also dangerous to ride alone at night. You do not have to share a tent with anyone. When we get back, I will wrap up your knee for you."

"I am not staying. I am taking Anya back to the town!"

"We are not leaving, Nikolai. We are staying with them," Anya said sternly.

"What are you talking about, dear sister? Why would you want to stay with these idiots?"

"I joined a stupid hero group so I will travel with them."

"What?!" Nikolai was so shocked that he lost his balance and fell on the ground. "What were you thinking?"

Anya helped him back up. "I get to bash zombies in their heads with my shovel. How could I refuse? That is a dream job right there."

"I will not allow you to be a sidekick! You are better than that!"

Anya thought for a moment. "Maybe I can have her change the job title to "zombie exterminator" or something. Would that be better?"

"Join a hero group… Ridiculous! How did you get such a dumb idea anyway?"

"Toris said it would be a good idea for me to make friends. I am making progress with this "bonding" thing he talked about."

"Let us not talk about this now!" Toris interrupted quickly as Nikolai glared maliciously at him. "It is late! We should all get some sleep and discuss this later."

**Chapter 27**

"It's mid-August, it shouldn't be this cold," Maddie thought as she woke up freezing in the tent. It felt like winter. She got into her sleeping bag and glanced at sleeping Amelia who was shivering in her own sleeping bag beside her. Maddie scooted over and put her arm around her sister.

Maddie attempted to go back to sleep but she suddenly had a strange feeling. She turned looked and saw Anya staring into the tent at them. Maddie felt like screaming but stopped herself. "Um… Hello," she squeaked.

"Hello," Anya greeted.

"Uh… Hi."

"I have a question."

"S… Sure."

"Why does she not hit and kick you while she sleeps?"

"Eh… Well… She doesn't toss and turn when I'm around because I'm her sister, I guess."

"Oh." Anya crawled into the tent with her sleeping bag and set it down beside Amelia. "Good to know. Goodnight!" She slipped into it, snuggled up against Amelia, and went to sleep.

Maddie didn't even know what to think. She hoped that after she went back to sleep, she would forget this ever happened.

Meanwhile in the women's tent, Monika enjoyed the quiet and warmth of having the tent to herself for once without Anya creepily staring at her. She read one of the medical textbooks she borrowed from Dr. Mathias back in town. She realized that after the outbreak that she had to learn to treat more than just animals.

"Hey Monika!" Feliciano greeted as he entered the tent in nothing but his boxers.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Monika roared.

"I decided to keep you company!"

"What the hell are you thinking? What would everyone think if everyone saw you in here wearing nothing but that!? Get out of here! This is the women's tent!"

"But Monika, none of the women are in here at the moment so it's OK!"

Monika fought the urge to hit him for that remark but she knew he didn't mean it like that. "What do you want?"

"It's too crowded in the men's tent. This tent has loads of room!" Feliciano paused for a moment and shuddered. "I don't want to be near that new guy. He's scary."

Monika sighed. "Fine! Just please stay on that side of the tent. The last thing I want is rumors going around about this."

Feliciano tilted his head. "What kind of rumors?"

Monika shook her head and lied down. "Nevermind."


	10. Parts 28-30

******Chapter 28**

Toris crawled out of a smaller tent he put up next to the men's tent. "All done, Mr. Nikolai! Now you have a whole tent to yourself since you do not want to stay with the others. That is unless you want to me stay with you tonight for company."

Nikolai scowled at him.

"Or not," Toris quickly added. "I have a question for you. How did you find us?"

"I put a tracking device on my sister a while go in case I lost her. The batteries fell out during that zombie attack. Once we entered the town, I got new batteries."

"I do not think she would approve of that."

"Hmph!" Nikolai crossed his arms. "I want my knife back."

"Miss Maddie is not going to give you your knife back until you calm down and prove you can get along with everyone."

"I will just steal it back."

"I would not attempt that. See that big sleeping polar bear?" Toris pointed to Kumajiro who was sleeping right outside Amelia's tent. "That is hers."

"I am not scared of that bear."

"If you ask Miss Maddie nicely, I believe she will give it back. We will be living together for a long time. You can at least learn to tolerate everyone."

"I do not want to." Nikolai became irritated and changed the subject. "Sister should be in this tent with me. Why does she choose to sleep with the idiot twins?"

"Now, now… I think you would like Miss Amelia once you get to know her. I think you both have a lot in common."

Nikolai scoffed in disbelief. "Like what?"

"Well," Toris began, "You are overly protective of your sister and she is overly protective of anyone who she thinks needs saving. That is why she yelled at you when she thought you were attacking Miss Anya."

"And?"

Toris smiled. "I think you both are very attractive."

"What did you say?"

"Uh… I said you both are incredibly aggressive and like causing commotions."

"Whatever." Nikolai shrugged. "How about you go to bed and leave me alone?"

Toris nodded. "It is late. Well, have a good night." He unzipped the door of the men's tent then paused. "Oh by the way, I hope you are not planning to sneak over to their tent when I go to bed. Mr. Francis stays up all night to watch over our camp and he does not go to sleep until after breakfast. He will not let you near them."

Nikolai cursed, stormed into his tent, and angrily zipped up the tent's door.

Toris sighed. "That is what I thought. Goodnight, Mr. Nikolai."

******Chapter 29**

The next afternoon, Amelia used their lunchtime break to talk about important hero matters.

"OK guys! Feli and I narrowed our hero battle pony logo down to three! Pick out the one you like best!" Amelia handed the sketchbook the Feliks.

Feliks pointed to the one on the left. "This one totally! You think I am right, right Toris?"

Toris scratched the side of his neck. "You do like pink, Mr. Feliks."

Anya yanked the sketchbook away from Feliks. After she considered the choices for a few moments, she handed the sketchbook to Feliciano and pointed to the left one. "Put a sunflower on its flank. Then I will find this one acceptable."

"Can do, bella!" Feliciano winked. "I guess the one good idea about it being the zombie apocalypse is that we don't have to worry about copyright infringement."

Toris turned to Nikolai hoping that he would join in but instead he found Nikolai glaring up at Maddie who was sleeping upright on Kumajiro again. Toris sighed. He knew that Nikolai really wanted his knife back. Toris recalled Amelia told him earlier that Maddie didn't get much sleep last night and that she had no idea why. Toris hoped that Nikolai would take his advice and behave.

"So everyone likes the left one then!" Feliciano cheered, "We have a winner!"

"If I may," Arthur interrupted, "The left one is good but my friends think that it would be even better if it was a battle unicorn instead of a battle pony. Of course, they might be a bit biased because a few of them are actually unicorns themselves."

"The horn should be really sharp for stabbing zombies with!" Amelia clapped. "Can you do it, Feli?"

"That's easy!" Feliciano took the sketchbook back and added the horn and the sunflower.

"Well, that's done!" Amelia announced, "Now I'm off to do my hero check!"

"What's a hero check?" Feliciano asked.

"I stand on my truck and see if there are any people nearby to save."

"Oh. Have fun, bella!"

Amelia grabbed a pair of binoculars and climbed on top of her truck. She didn't notice anything of interest until her gaze fell on a lone tree in the distance. To her, it looked like Feliciano was playfully hanging on the tree but she knew he was still over here with the rest of them. The figured finally noticed her and waved. She happily waved back. She decided to let the others relax on their break while she headed towards the new guy.

"Hello, bella!" The Feliciano look-alike called out as she neared him. "Are you single?"

"Nope!" Amelia called back as she neared, "I used to be a single hero but now I have four members in my hero group!"

"Really? That's too bad," he laughed as he kissed her hand. "My name is Marcello."

"I'm Amelia! You're related to Feliciano, aren't you?"

Marcello nodded, "I'm his cousin. We might look like twins but I consider myself the better catch."

"Why are you out here all alone?"

"We saw your bonfires last night so this morning they sent me to check it out. I noticed that your group has a bunch of pretty ladies in it so I wanted to think of a cool way to introduce myself… but you found me first."

Amelia looked around. "If you're traveling with people, where are they?"

Marcello shook his head. "Oh no! We're not traveling, bella. We formed our own country! If you introduce me to your group then I'll take you to our country's capital and introduce you all."

"That's awesome."

******Chapter 30**

"Hey guys, look who I found!" Amelia announced as led Marcello to the group.

"I see you "rescued" a new worker for me!" Chun-Yan cheerfully remarked, "Good job, hero girl!"

"Marcello!" Feliciano beamed as ran to his cousin. "Nice to see you! I'm so sorry if we had you all worried! There were car problems! It was all my fault! I would have called you if cellphones still worked."

Marcello patted him on the back. "Don't worry! Everyone will be so relieved by the news!"

"When we get back to our country, we'll walkie the king to let him know of your return. I bet he'll like to have a speech ready for your arrival."

"Don't call my brother that!" Monika said in an irritated groan.

"You're a princess?" Amelia asked excitedly.

"No. No! It's just a stupid game he plays by himself. It's best if you ignore him. It only encourages him."

"Hey," Marcello spoke in a soft voice as he leaned over to Feliciano, "I'm glad you brought some more ladies home with you."

Feliciano nodded then whispered back, "I am too. Just be careful around that bella with the shovel though. It's not worth it. Her brother's scary too."

"Gotcha. Thanks for the tip."

"Anyway," Feliciano raised his voice back to normal, "While we didn't make to the farm, the good news is Miss Chun-Yan over there is actually the owner of the farm we were heading to before the car broke down! Soon we get to eat real food instead of boxed foods and condensed soup!"

Marcello licked his lips. "That's a relief! I didn't know how much more crappy food I could take."

Suddenly from behind the truck, a guy with shades and his hair slicked back jumped out. He posed as threatening as he could even though his choice of weapon was a broom. "ALRIGHT, ASSHOLES! You don't take hostages from our country, YOU MOTHER F…"

Amelia waved at him. "Hi, Milo!"

"…FFFFFFFF…" Milo choked as his broom fell to the ground. "H… Hi… Miss… Am…" His face became bright red and he turned away from them in embarrassment.

"You know him?" Chun-Yan asked.

"Yep!" Amelia nodded. "We're neighbors!"

"I'm beginning to think there might be something in the water near your house, girl."

Marcello laughed. "Aw, you guys got impatient waiting for me." He called out to the young girl peeking out from behind the truck. "Zoey, I told you I could do this myself!"

"So you could flirt all day?" Zoey moaned, "I need to stop hanging out with knuckle-headed boys like you and with more mature women like myself!"

"I think you ought to keep looking then," Arthur joked.

"Hey there, jerk!" A boy in a sailor outfit mischievously waved at Arthur from the top of the truck.

"PETER!"


	11. Parts 31-33

**Chapter 31**

"I like to welcome you all to the United Federation of Micronations!" Peter greeted everyone as he stood on top of Chun-Yan's truck. "It's just down that road. I'll give you a tour when we get there!"

"What kind of a stupid country name is that?" Arthur fumed, "What are you doing here? I told you to stay with me, you brat! Don't you know how worried I was when I found your stupid note telling me you run off in the middle of a zombie outbreak! You could've been killed! And were you planning on just leaving me there?"

"No! Of course not! We would have got you earlier but we have a bit of a crisis at the moment. Actually, it's a good thing you found us first because I wasn't exactly sure out where that place was. We would have figured it out eventually though."

"I don't care! You shouldn't have run off! You need to listen to me because I'm your…"

"Can we please just get to the town already?" Chun-Yan interrupted impatiently, "Hopefully before nightfall because I rather not sleep in my truck another night! It's not the most comfortable of sleeping arrangements. Everyone pack up and let's go! Chop chop!"

Arthur shook his finger at Peter. "You're not off the hook yet, Peter! We are continuing this discussion later!"

Peter ignored him and called down to Chun-Yan. "Can I help you drive this? It looks so awesome!"

"It is awesome," Chun-Yan agreed, "Sure, why not?"

As the others got ready to move, Milo finally regained his cool. He took a deep breath and walked up to Amelia. "Hello, Miss Amelia. I'm happy to see you're alive."

"Me too! I wasn't expecting to see you out here." Amelia smiled as she put away the rest of her things.

"It was for work. Um, do you need help with that? It would be my pleasure to carry some things for you, miss."

"Nah, I'm good!"

"So you… you pull that truck around all by yourself?"

"Yep! This is my truck for my hero group! I'm the leader! The three other members are getting in the back of that truck with that stalker guy." Amelia turned and waved at them.

Nikolai gave her an icy stare before turning away. His knee was swollen because of the night before so Toris convinced him to ride in the back of the truck with him. At least his precious sister was next to him.

"Hi there!" Feliks called out as waved back. He sat next to Toris as he cleaned his wagon.

Toris gave her a quick wave. He wished he could work out a way to get Amelia and Nikolai to finally get along. It proved to be difficult so far.

Amelia looked back at Milo and continued, "So… Do you want to join us?"

Milo blushed. "I would love to but with all that traveling, I would never be able to keep up with you, miss. I'm not very athletic and my weapon is a broom. I wouldn't want to slow you down. Though I actually do have a very important job right now." He twirled the broom around. "Our country is the town's first line of defense! We can see a good distance at the top of our base to warn the town of dangers before they even become a threat! Besides, who else is going to keep these little kids safe?" He motioned towards Zoey.

Zoey growled as she walked next to Marcello behind them. "Remind me later to smack him! Who does he think he is? That jackass! I'm the most mature one of the bunch of us! What's going on with him anyway? "Miss"… Really? Where did that come from? I never saw that weirdo act so calm and polite before."

Marcello chuckled. "You'll understand when you're older, little miss!"

"Remind me later to smack you too!"

**Chapter 32**

"Here we are!" Peter shouted as he hopped out of the truck. The United Federation of Micronations's capitol building was a four-story middle school. Next to it was a public library and a water tower. "Isn't it great?"

"Oh yeah! That reminds me!" Amelia skipped over to Kumajiro and tapped Maddie repeatedly on the ankle. "Maddie! Maddie! Get up! It's the afternoon! Maddie! We're in a new country! We got new friends here! Some of them have never tried your syrup before!"

Maddie woke up with a jolt. "Oh that's just horrible!"

"You got to stop staying up so late, Maddie!"

"I'll try to get some sleep tonight." Maddie nervously looked at Anya and then back at Amelia. "Hopefully."

"What?" Francis poked his head out of Amelia's tent. "Where are we? What did I miss? Why don't you people wake me up when something important happens?"

"You can go back to sleep if you want. We're not staying long. I'll wake you up when we finally get to that town," Chun-Yan offered.

"Are there any ladies here?" Francis asked hopefully.

"Not old enough for you."

"I'm going back to bed then."

"Let me introduce the rest of us!" Peter pointed to the top of the water tower. "Moritz is up there on watch duty. He's also painting it because he thinks it looked too plain and our country should be heavily focused in the arts.

Kazou came around the building and greeted them in a bow.

"We have a few chickens at the back of the school. Thanks to him, eggs are our country's primary export! There's also Ethan, our country's ambassador. He must be inside right now. The final member of our country is…"

Suddenly, a man in a purple cloak flamboyantly came out of the front doors of the school. "Wait! I was waiting to be properly introduced before I came outside!"

"There you are, Ethan!" Peter waved.

"So visitors have arrived in our glorious country!" Ethan whisked his hair. "They obviously must have come to pay me tribute!"

"No, they just want to use the walkie-talkie before heading to town."

"Oh hey! Is that your king-brother, Monika?" Amelia asked.

"No!" Monika answered, "Unfortunately my brother is more annoying and his outfit is even worse."

"Follow me, Monika." Peter motioned. "The rest of you can hang out in the library if you like. It's nice! If you want to borrow a book, it's fine. Just bring it back when you're done. "

As the others headed towards the library, Maddie slipped Ethan one of her maple syrup bottles. "This stuff is worth more than gold."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Ethan inspected the bottle. "Well then, this is certainly good enough for me!"

**Chapter 33**

Once inside, Peter led Monika and Feliciano to the teachers' lounge where the walkie-talkie was kept.

Peter picked up the walkie and then handed it to Monika. "There it is! This is how we communicate until we come up with something better. Luckily, we have plenty of batteries to last us a while. Your brother has the other one."

Monika picked up the walkie. "Gilbert… Gilbert, are you there? We are all fine. We ran into… car problems. We'll be arriving there shortly. Gilbert?"

A moment later, Gilbert attempted to answer her over the sounds of loud barking dogs. "Hel… SHUT UP! Can… you give me a moment, sister? I SAID SHUT…"

"See, Monika?" Feliciano laughed. "Your doggies really missed you!"

Monika smiled. "I miss them too. They are good dogs."

About two minutes later, Gilbert returned on the walkie. "I put them outside. Ahem. Princess Monika, I am so overjoyed to hear that you are safe!"

"Stop calling me that! All I want you to do is let everyone know we are fine and that we ran into more survivors along the way so they can get some cots ready."

"More loyal subjects… Heh. How nice! I believe your return tonight calls for a celebration!"

"No. I think everyone just wants some sleep."

"You're no fun, princess! How about if I promise that there will be plenty of beer? Would you feel tired then?" Gilbert laughed. "Anyway… Just wait an hour before making your way over here, I have to prepare! Bye for now!"

"Bye, Gilbert." Monika let out an exasperated sigh. Her brother was right; she really needed a beer after all this.

Meanwhile, Toris helped Nikolai into the library.

"Come on, Mr. Nikolai. You will like it in here," Toris assured him. "The library is so nice! It is good that there are plenty of windows for the light to get in. Is there any book you are interested in that I could try to find for you? "

"I do not care about that." Nikolai glanced around. "Where is my sister? You said she was in here."

"Really? She was here a moment ago. Maybe she went searching for a book."

"I still do not see her in here."

Toris lead him to a table and pulled out a chair. "Stay right here and I would go look for her for you, Mr. Nikolai."

"Fine."

Toris placed a bottle of water and handed Nikolai a few aspirin for his knee. "I will be back!" Toris gave him a wink and then left the library.

Nikolai grumbled to himself as he took an aspirin. As he slipped his water, he glanced to the side and realized that he was sitting two chairs away from Amelia. He was too busy looking for his sister to notice. This must have been Toris' plan from the start. Nikolai took another aspirin. Toris was really getting on his nerves lately.

(So far: Amelia(fem!USA), Francis(France), Chun-Yan(fem!China), Arthur(U.K.), Feliks(Poland), Toris(Lithuania), Eduard(Estonia), Anya(fem!Russia), Feliciano(N. Italy), Monika(fem!Germany), Kiku(Japan), Maddie(fem!Canada), Nikolai(male!Belarus), Marcello(Seborga), Peter(Sealand), Zoey(Wy), Milo(Molossia), Moritz(Kugelmugel), Kazou(Nikko Nikko), Ethan(Hutt River), Gilbert(Prussia) )


	12. Parts 34-36

**Chapter 34**

Nikolai finished the rest of his water and then set the bottle down on the table. Out of sheer boredom, he peeked over to see what Amelia was reading. Amelia flipped through a book on haunted cemeteries. He found that all the books around her were about haunted places and ghost sightings. Ghosts, huh? He didn't know that blonde moron was interested in that stuff too.

Without asking first, he picked up the nearest book and flipped through it. When he got through about half the book, Nikolai let out a frustrated growl. "Why are you reading these? This damned book is complete garbage! There are not any real ghost photographs in here!"

"Huh?" Amelia scooched her chair closer to him and looked over his shoulder. "The ghost is right there on the far left."

"No, that is a tree! The leaves and branches just so happen to form a face if you squint. That is not a ghost! I know this because this photograph was taken in Illinois. If there really was a ghost in the picture, it would be closer and clearly visible because American ghosts are show-offs!" Nikolai slammed the book down. "I do not understand how this pathetic excuse for a book was even published! It is completely useless! I have taken much better ghost photographs drunk!"

"You take pictures of ghosts?!" Amelia asked excitedly.

Nikolai was taken aback by her enthusiasm. "Y… Yes. It is a hobby of mine. I like going to haunted places."

"Really?"

"I can see ghosts, I can tell fortunes, and I am interested the occult. I have traveled to many haunted places and stored hundreds of ghost photographs in a cardboard box in my house. They are a lot better than this trash! "

"Can we go there?"

"Where?"

"Your house! I wanna see!"

"You idiot! We are in the middle of an outbreak!" Nikolai became solemn. We will probably join the ghosts soon anyway. I feel it is only a matter of time before we all eventually succumb to the virus. Do you really mean you want to go there right now while the apocalypse is going on?"

"Of course!" Amelia answered, "Why not? I believe we should never give up hope! I don't care about the zombies! We'll just continue to blast through them and fight on as always! We all made it this long! Don't worry, we'll be fine!"

Nikolai was at a loss for words. How can she be so optimistic?

Outside, Toris carefully watched them through a window. He was amazed that his plan went better than he expected. He marveled at his own cleverness.

"Like, what are you doing?" Feliks asked from behind Toris.

Toris jumped. "Shhh! Nothing! I am not doing anything!"

"Right… Like I would believe that!" He pressed his nose against the glass.

"Stop! Do not let them see you!"

"Are you playing matchmaker or something? That is so funny!" Feliks laughed obnoxiously.

"Shhh!" Toris hoped that no one heard them. "Matchmaker? N… No! I just wanted Mr. Nikolai and Miss Amelia to get along so she would allow him to join our hero group!"

"Yeah right! You want to know what their babies would look like!"

"I am telling the truth, Mr. Feliks! Mr. Nikolai has trouble interacting with people so I am indirectly teaching him to have conversations with others that are not his sister. It is nice to see that my plan is working! I knew it would!" Toris blushed. "Mr. Nikolai would make a great addition to our team! He is so cool, handsome, and he is an expert with knives. Zombies would be no threat with him around. I would like Mr. Nikolai to travel with us. It would be wonderful, yes?"

"Like no," Feliks said flatly.

**Chapter 35**

"What?!" Toris quickly peered into the window to make sure no one saw them before turning back to Feliks. "I cannot believe you said that, Mr. Feliks! That is rude!"

Feliks shrugged. "You know me, Toris. I do not like Anya or Nikolai that much and I believe the feeling is mutual."

"Yes, I think you are right about that."

"We do not get along at all so I prefer to keep my distance from them. Their older brother is cool though. I like him."

"I am puzzled, Mr. Feliks. Why would you stay in the group if you want to keep your distance for them?"

"Toris, I joined hero group because of you."

"You join for me, Mr. Feliks?"

"Yes. I mean, who else will pull my wagon?" Feliks chuckled.

Toris clenched his fist. "I cannot believe you! I am not your stupid wagon puller!"

"Woah! Calm down, Toris! Do not like look at me like that! I am only kidding! I am in the group because it makes you happy. When you are happy, it makes me happy."

"Really?"

"Sure! I can see how much braver you are when Amelia is around. You do not allow Anya to pick on you as much and you are happier for it. It does not matter what I feel about them, I can handle myself."

"I am braver? I did not realize I acted differently."

"We have fun in our little group, do we not? Our leader is kick-ass and we get to goof off."

"You definitely like goofing off, Mr. Feliks."

Meanwhile in the school's computer lab, Kiku and Eduard hanged out to kill time.

"That is thirty-two computers so far." Eduard noted as he typed on his own working laptop. "I am sure there are more throughout the school. I will be busy for a while. The nice thing for us is that everything was already invented. We just have to get them working again."

Kiku nodded. "That is true, Mr. Eduard."

"Oh! Can you please hand me that that laptop on the desk? I can bring that with me to work on."

"Sure thing!" Kiku walked over to the desk and placed his hand on the laptop.

"DON'T TOUCH MY LAPTOP, ASSHOLE!"

"Oh, I am so sorry! Please forgive me!" Kiku apologized to the voice before he realized there was no one else in the room besides Eduard. "That was not you, was it?"

"No!" Eduard jumped out of his seat and looked around. "Where did that voice come from? There is no else here!"

Kiku looked down at the laptop. "I… I think the laptop just talked."

**Chapter 36**

Kiku carefully opened the laptop while Eduard headed over to the desk. On the screen there was an angry little red-headed boy pacing around.

"I told you not to touch this, bastards!" The boy flashed them a vulgar hand gesture.

Eduard took off his glasses and wiped the lenses on his shirt because he could not believe what he was seeing. "There is… a little boy living in a laptop?"

"I'm not a little boy, ass!"

"How… is this even possible?"

"Mr. Eduard," Kiku replied, "We travel with people who can pull trucks, see invisible creatures, make the temperature drop, and ride polar bears. So is this really as impossible as you think? "

Eduard put his glasses back on. "Well, if you put it that way… I guess I should not be so surprised by this."

Kiku greeted the laptop in a bow. "My name is Kiku. May I ask who you are?"

The kid crossed his arms. "For your information, samurai, I'm the leader of this country!"

"What are you doing in the laptop?"

"None of your business! I command you to go away, you bastards!"

"This annoying runt's name is Ollo and he's no f'in leader," Milo informed them as walked into the room.

Ollo gave him the one-finger salute. "Shut up, Milo! No one asked you!"

"How are you gonna make me, brat? I'm not the one stuck in there from now on. Heh."

"How did he end up in the laptop?" Kiku asked.

"The f'in battery died."

"Ah… So just like my girlfriend."

Milo gave Kiku a funny look. "What? Anyway… His laptop needs power for him to get out of it."

Eduard grinned. "I can fix the laptop if you like!"

"No way!" Ollo pressed against the screen. "You can do that? You better not be lying!"

"This genius is not lying. I have fixed laptops before. It might take me a few days but I can get it working again. I will just make sure to keep you away from Miss Anya."

"Who?"

"Err… Please forget that I said that."


End file.
